Tales of Symphonia Story, Sylvarant Chronicles (1)

QUIZ START: You pause briefly behind the Inn upon Raine's request,
"You can get a good view of the Tower of Salvation from the mountain in the back of this village." Raine explained, "Lets have a look at the Tower of Salvation and think about what we're all going to do."
"...Yeah." Lloyd agreed. So you follow Lloyd and Raine up to the plateau, despite how uneasy it made you feel, and moved to look at the Tower of Salvation.
"Looking at it like this...it feels really close." Lloyd commented, gazing at the huge tower that punctured the thin, almost translucent, blanket of clouds hovering in the sky. The tower jutted upward, far too high for you to see the top,
"But it's really very far away." Genis responded,
"Hard to believe..." you comment softly, having to tilt your head back to see more of the tower. But it continued to far into the sky for you to see the top, "I wonder how high it actually goes..."
"Yeah." Sheena agreed, tilting her head back and looking up. "I can't see the top."
"...It looks like theres no path leading to it." Genis commented, looking down at the ground. You weren't willing to look down over the edge, so you believed what Genis said.
"You there!!" exclaimed a voice from behind you. A somewhat tubby man walked up the path to the plateau, and headed towards all of you. You turn back to him, "Have you ever wanted to get a closer view of the Tower of Salvation?" he asked happily. Lloyd was the first to speak,
"Wh...what did you say?!" he asked,
"Oh I can see from that reaction you are intrested!"
"He's going to play off of that. He's got a plan, and I think Gald is involved." you murmur to Kratos,
"You're probably right." he agreed with a sigh.
"Can you really go to the Tower of Salvation?" inquired the brunette.
"Ahem." the man cleared his throat, then exclaimed, "Welcome to Dragon Tours! My humble dragons and I shall show you the way to the Tower of Salvation."
"I was right." you sigh softly. Genis gave the man an unsure look,
"Dragon Tours? What kind of shady business is he running?" asked the elf
"But it would be possible to reach the Tower of Salvation from the air." Raine commented,
"Okay! We want to ride the dragons!!" Lloyd told him,
"Great! You have the honor of bing the very first customers of Dragon Tour!" he said.
"...Customers...?" you voice slowly.
"Let's see now...7 people means 3, no, better be 4 dragons...so... Here's a special price available only today! It'll be 6,500 Gald!" he announced, a huge grin on his face. Lloyd gave him a look which asked 'you're kidding, right?'
"That's expensive..." he added,
"But it cant be helped. We have to get to the Tower of Salvation." Raine sighed, shaking her head,
"Yeah. It's for the World Regeneration." Genis added, being sure to put a bit of emphasis on World Regeneration. The man jumped,
"Wha...what did you say?! Are you the Chosen's group!?"
"That's right." Raine confirmed with a tiny smirk,
"Oh my!! No, no, no! This won't do at all! I can possibly take money from the Chosen! Please, put that money away!" the salesman exclaimed,
"...We haven't taken it out yet." Lloyd muttered,
"In that case, I'll ready four high-class dragons for you by tomorrow morning! Of course I will not accept any money!" he paused, "However..."
"What is it?" asked the professor,
"I've heard that the area around the Tower of Salvation is dangerous, so... If you could just..." he scratched the back of his head, "I mean... My cute little dragons are..."
"Not a problem. When we reach out destination, we'll return the dragons to you." Raine assured, "Is that all right with everyone?"
"I have no objections." Kratos responded simply,
"Sure." you agree, shrugging your shoulders
"Yeah. We'll figure out how to get back when the time comes." Lloyd agreed,
"I understand. Well then, I shall await you all here tomorrow morning. There are preparations to make, so I'll take leave." then the man left, heading back down the pathway.

You all make your way back down to the Inn, knowing that you had some time to rest before heading to the tower.
"We're finally down to the last seal." Lloyd mumbled,
"Lets split up for tonight." Raine suggested, "But don't go outside the village. Understood?"
"Yup." Genis agreed with a nod,
"...Got it." Sheena added,
"Fine." you finish,
"We'll be leaving in the morning." Kratos warned,
"Goodnight, everyone. Sleep well." Raine concluded. Kratos turned and left, heading up towards the small graveyard; Genis and Sheena moved to the area around the Inn. Colette said,
"Professor, thank you so much for all that you've done.' you opened your mouth to tell her what she said, however she'd already understood.
"You want to thank me? Don't worry about it. Despite knowing what your future holds, this is all I can do for you." *What...her future holds...?* you wonder curiously

You decided that you wanted to talk to Kratos one more time; after the journey was over you might not see him again...You'd been thinking about maybe asking him... asking him if you could accompany him when he began his travels again. As you thought about where he had gone you remembered seeing him walk back up the mountainside path. *I'll look that way first.* you decide. After walking up the path behind the Inn you find Kratos looking at the graves of the people who escaped from Kvar's ranch. A cool gust of wind picked up, blowing the tails of his cape and his hair. As well as blowing all your hair to one side. The loose fabric of your sleeves fluttered quietly, dancing on the wind.
"Kratos?" you ask,
"Hm?" he looked back over his shoulder, "Oh... Aura." you walk over to him
"Could I...talk to you?"
"Of course." he agreed,
"Well...there are two things I wanted to say...but first, I guess I should say what's worrying me."
"..." he did nothing to interrupt you, and waited for you to continue.
"I-...I'm worried."
"About...what?"
"I...I don't know." you admit, "But ever since the Tower of Mana...I've had this really bad feeling." you pause, trying to put what you felt into words, "Like something is going to happen to Colette... Something...bad."
"What do you mean?" the Mercenary asked, his voice showing some interest,
"I don't know..." you respond weakly. You hated hearing yourself say that...I don't know, I don't know...I don't know... You never knew. You never remembered...until it was too late...
You sat down, back leaning against the side of a headstone; Kratos watched you while you looked over the edge of the cliff. The blanket of clouds disappeared, and the sun cast an orange-golden glow on the whole mountainside,
"I don't know why. But a bad feeling has been tugging at me. I just don't know what it is."
"But you know it concerns the Chosen?" asked Kratos, *Why does he always call her 'the chosen'?* you think *Why dosnt he just call her 'Colette'?...*
"Yes. That much I do know...but..." you sigh "Maybe if I had more of my memories back, I would know why im so worried..."
"...Perhaps. But, you cannot blame yourself for what you don't remember." Kratos told you.
"Yeah, you're right." the Mercenary offered you a hand, and helped you back to your feet. The 'Promise Ring' on his middle finger gleaming and sparkling from the rays of the setting sun. "Why did you take off the ring before?" you ask. Kratos looked at the ring on his middle finger, watching the colors reflect as the setting sun hit it. The Sorcerers Ring was on his other hand,
"I took it off because I didn't want to loose it. But...then I suppose I forgot about it."
"And making that promise to me helped you remember it?" you ask,
"...Yes." he responded. "...You said there was one other thing that you wished to speak to me about?"
"Ah--um..." you fidget a bit as you ask, "After this journey is over... You're going to start traveling again, right? Looking...for more work?"
"......" he didn't answer for a moment. You couldn't tell if it was because he was trying to figure out the motive for your question, or...because he didn't know the answer. "...Yes. I suppose I will."
"Could I..." you pause, turning your eyes down for a moment before looking back at him, "Could I...come with you?"
"...?"
"When you leave to continue traveling...could I come with you?" you repeat.
"......." the smallest smile spread across his lips, "...If you would like." he responded, "But I'll warn you, it won't be easy... We'll constantly be moving... constantly fighting."
"That's alright." you respond with a reassuring smile, "I mean...constant travel and fights...that's like the journey that we just went through, isn't it?"
"...Hm... I suppose it is." he agreed thoughtfully, "...Very well." he held out his hand, "I...look forward to traveling with you."
"Yeah....me too." you agree, shaking his hand.

"Come. We should get back to the inn." you nod, and follow him down the path, back to the Inn.